


when your heart is heavy

by applepi15



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27758992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/applepi15/pseuds/applepi15
Summary: "Tell me something, minou."He glances at her.I'm listening."How did you move on from me?"The question swirls in the air like smoke, making it harder for her to breathe. Feeling him stiffen beside her, she looks at her partner with all the courage she could muster. It's out there. No taking it back. He looks like he's doing his best to choke out words, only to fail every time.She tries again. "Chaton?"He inhales deeply and opens his mouth. "I.."Marinette ought to give him an out—ought to brush it off and agree to never speak of it again. But tonight she is selfish, and she figures Paris can handle one night of Ladybug being human.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 226





	when your heart is heavy

"Are you okay, Ladybug?" 

Marinette takes note of how Chat's voice didn't scare her, even if she's alone in a dark rooftop. _Their_ rooftop, she recalls. The one where Chat elaborately planned his Valentine's Day surprise, only for her not to show up. 

She pats the space beside her, the innate need for his warmth like an itch in her skin. He does sit down, and he is warm, but she still couldn't feel _anything_. 

"Tell me something, minou." 

He glances at her. _I'm listening_. 

"How did you move on from me?" 

The question swirls in the air like smoke, making it harder for her to breathe. Feeling him stiffen beside her, she looks at her partner with all the courage she could muster. It's out there. No taking it back. He looks like he's doing his best to choke out words, only to fail every time. 

She tries again. "Chaton?" 

He inhales deeply and opens his mouth. "I.." 

Marinette ought to give him an out—ought to brush it off and agree to never speak of it again. But tonight she is selfish, and she figures Paris can handle one night of Ladybug being human. 

Chat squeezes his eyes shut. "I still love you, Ladybug. It's just... different now." 

Her eyebrows furrow at the statement, trying to recount the last time Chat Noir had tried to ask her out, or proclaim his undying love. 

She can't remember the last time he did it. 

"I really don't know," he says earnestly, taking her hand in his. "Maybe it's because I kind of like someone else now, too." 

His sheepish smile flashed in her mind's eye, probably just as quick as he'd envisioned her rolling her eyes. Because that's what she's been saying, wasn't it? That his love wasn't really love, that he never really did love her the way he said he did. 

(A small part of Marinette asks if that's for her to decide, but tonight she is selfish, and so—for tonight—it is.) 

"Why'd you ask, my lady?" 

"No reason," she replies distractedly, tracing the patterns in his claws with her gloved fingertips. "Tell me about her." 

"Huh?" 

She smiles at that, and rests her head on his shoulder. 

"Hm.. okay. I honestly don't know where to start." She can tell he's overwhelmed, like even thinking about this girl drowns him with so much, so much that he can't breathe. Exactly how Marinette feels when she thinks about— 

"She likes to make things," Chat continues, and she feels his tail's slow movements behind them. "Pastries, dresses, paintings—you name it. She's amazing. She does her best to help everyone around her, and being around her, it's just. It's like being close to the sun." 

She pokes his chest. "Looks like someone's really gotten over me, huh." 

The tips of his ears turned a lovely shade of red, and she laughs as Chat tries to splutter out words to defend himself. After she's recovered, she finds Chat smiling at her. 

(She finds it hard to believe he likes someone else, the way he's looking at her.) 

"I'm glad you found someone, minou." 

"What about you? Any new developments with your crush I should know about?" 

She tried not to be so obvious about it, but there's only so little she can do when her smile drops and her shoulders fall without her control. Right. 

Adrien. 

Moving on. 

"He doesn't like me that way," she says, her voice quiet and brittle enough to break. "It sucks." 

She feels his arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her tighter, his warmth finally registering in her brain, finally making her feel after numbing herself out after hours and hours of crying. 

"I can kick his ass, you know," he says, faux-casual. "I know you can too, but I'd help you." 

She chuckles at the empty threat. She loves Adrien. Especially now that they're much closer friends than they were before. And it's kind of paradoxical, in a way. How Marinette got so close to Adrien Agreste, so close that she can finally see that that's probably as close as she can get. She can't make him want her any more than he already does. 

And he wants her as a friend. Nothing more. 

( _She had so much love to give that it hurts—_ ) 

They're both silent for a while. It helps her breathe, her mind the clearest its been ever since Master Fu went and left them both to fend for themselves. 

"Can I know her name?" she asks, her question once again wafting through the air, heavy with implication. They both know what she's asking, what she's risking, but they're also alone. It's just Ladybug and Chat Noir now. What else was there to lose? 

"Marinette," he says, almost reverent. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."


End file.
